Trading

This sector includes all our trading jobs.

Trading roles involve tracking the markets and buying and selling the products at the touch of a button. Your trading career will be defined by both what products you trade (eg, equities, foreign exchange, or commodities) and by the kind of trader you are.

Trader roles come in several types:

Flow traders - People who buy and sell financial products on behalf of a bank's clients.

Proprietary (or 'prop') traders - A select group of elite traders who are given licence to trade the bank's own money.

Execution traders - Traders who do little more than place trades on behalf of analysts and fund managers.

Sales traders - A kind of hybrid between salespeople and traders - they recommend products to clients and then execute the trades resulting from their recommendations.

Trading roles have been profoundly influenced by the rise of technology over the last decade, but investment banks also recruit for separate electronic trading divisions.

Electronic trading has meant that trade execution speeds fell dramatically, along with the cost of transactions, and that there's increased transparency in the markets. The use of algorithms - computer systems which decide on price, timing and quantity of an order - also meant that the average trade size fell.

The emergence of automation transformed the market from one where a great deal of human-intermediation was required into one where computers largely do the work in executing and processing trades. As a result a larger number of traditional trading roles were eliminated. However, electronic trading has also created a range of new positions and careers in trading.

These new finance jobs in trading include:

Quantitative analysts - Quants are maths geniuses, key to gaining an edge in e-trading. Quant jobs include designing, developing and implementing execution algorithms using a mathematical approach to identify investment opportunities and strategies in the market.

Consultants - A consulting job is all about keeping clients happy. Consultants run various statistical reports, including transaction cost analysis and trade reports, to ensure that clients are using trading tools in the most effective way. Consultants also offer tips on how to improve performance.

Sales traders - It's the sales trader's role to facilitate the execution of trades for clients, while also offering a menu of the bank's e-trading products and facilitating a customer's decision on what is the best one to suit their needs. It's a combination of marketing and client relationship management. Banks also hire for pure sales roles.